Chocolate Energy Bites

These Chocolate Energy Bites are naturally sweetened with dates for a healthy snack. They’ve got lots of protein and healthy fats thanks to almonds, use only 4 ingredients (plus spices), and are incredibly easy to make! This energy bites recipe is vegan, gluten-free, and Whole 30 compliant.

Before I had my son, I always envisioned that baking or cooking together would be something we’d enjoy. And yes, my little guy is keen to help out in the kitchen. What I didn’t anticipate, however, was how much letting go it would require.

Letting go of quality control, as the ingredients may or may not make it into the mixer. Letting go of clean floors, as a good amount of whatever we’ll be making will surely end up on the floor. Letting go of everything I’ve learned about food safety as my son dips his fingers into raw eggs and unbaked dough and wants to touch and taste everything as we go.

I hadn’t made these Chocolate Energy Bites in ages, but it dawned on me one day that they might be the perfect thing for a toddler-friendly cook-along; fun ingredients, machinery involved, and no scary raw egg to freak me out. Plus, the end result is a naturally-sweetened chocolatey treat that I actually feel good about letting my kid snack on. Parenting win!

What goes into Chocolate Energy Bites?

Only good stuff, my friends. These Chocolate Energy Bites are made with only 4 ingredients, plus a pinch of salt and a bit of cinnamon if you want to get fancy. We’re fancy people, are we not? The featured ingredients are:

Medjool dates

Raw almonds

Cocoa powder

Coconut

That’s it! And that means that these beauties are:

Vegan

Raw

Gluten-free

Naturally-sweetened

Paleo

Whole 30 compliant

What??? That’s something for practically everyone! Unless you’re allergic to almonds, in which case, I’m sorry, these are not for you.

How do you make Chocolate Energy Bites?

Ok, get a pen and write this down:

Put stuff in food processor.

Blitz said stuff together.

Roll stuff into balls.

That’s it!

Ok, it’s perhaps a little more nuanced than that, but that truly is the basic formula. If my two-year-old can do it, you can do it! Though it should be noted that his ball-rolling skillz are not up to food blogger standard, hygiene standards, or really anyone’s standards. His work is therefore not featured in this post. Sorry!

Tips and hints:

Do I need a food processor to make this energy bites recipe? Yes, I’m afraid that you do. You gotta grind those almonds up pretty fine and the blades make quick work of the dates. I don’t think making them without a food processor is possible, but I’m very happy for anyone to prove me wrong.

I have a bag of ground almonds / almond flour in my cupboard. I can I use that in place of the whole almonds? Yes! If we know that half a cup of whole almonds weighs roughly 75 grams, we can substitute 75 grams of ground almonds in this recipe. Yes, you’ll need to weigh it out.

I’m allergic to almonds, could I use something else? If there’s another kind of nut that does work for you, you could substitute an equal amount.

Help! My energy balls are way too sticky! No problemo. That probably means your dates are extra fresh. Just add a bit more coconut to help things firm up.

Help! My energy balls won’t stick together! Don’t sweat it – this probably means your dates weren’t super moist, and the recipe needs a bit of liquid added to it. Try 1-2 tablespoons of water, and see how that works.

Is this energy balls recipe:

Vegan? Yes!

Raw? Yes – if you use raw cacao powder.

Gluten-free? Yes!

Paleo? Yes!

Whole 30 compliant? Yes, with limits. They are meant to be an “emergency” snack and not something consumed as a dessert or treat.

Of that 75g carbohydrates, about 90% is sugar, which is mostly in the form of glucose and fructose. This means that of those 265 calories, about 240 come from sugar. So when we’re baking with dates and saying ‘this recipe has no sugar!’ what we’re really saying is ‘this recipe has no REFINED sugar!’

Dates are an excellent source of dietary fiber (about 7g in that 100g serving), and especially rich in soluble fiber, which is the kind that helps maintain healthy blood cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar levels. Plus dates are rich in a host of different vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, K, copper, magnesium, and manganese. So eat ‘em up!

Chocolate Energy Balls

These Chocolate Energy Bites are naturally sweetened with dates for a healthy snack. They've got lots of protein and healthy fats thanks to almonds, use only 4 ingredients (plus spices), and are incredibly easy to make!

Leanne! Get on the date train! They’re amazing, with a sort of caramel taste. For these truffes you want really soft dates, like fresh Medjool dates with the pits still in the middle. For my date-sweetened muffins I use dried dates. Definitely try these truffles, I think you’ll like them!

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Welcome to Hey, Nutrition Lady! - a vegetarian food blog focused on healthy food for busy people. I believe in a real life, fad-free approach to nutrition, and draw on my background as nutritionist to help people know what they're eating. I hope you like it here! Katie Trant - BSc FNH, MSc Nutrition